Latest news with #BenRaue
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Crunch: crowded prisons; triangle election revelations; and the power of the measles vaccine
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Crunch! The election may be over but the datavis can't stop, won't stop. In this week's newsletter we've got another election analysis triangle, a lot of measles coverage, and some heroic bar charts. While Australians were focused on the election, our UK colleagues released a fantastic visual investigation into the more than 30 Victorian-era prisons still in use across the UK. There's so many different visuals in this piece, from interactive panoramas to old and new illustrations, archive video, charts and photography. Even the colour choices convey the feel of 'damp, crowded, poorly ventilated'. *** 1. Breaking: vaccines work The measles outbreak in the US has been unpacked in a lot of ways – we've linked to a bunch below. But this chart from Our World in Data stands out. It's tricky to convey a change over time, across so many groups. If you aren't going to use a line chart, dealing with that many dimensions often results in something unwieldy or incomprehensible. But this chart is striking and the story very clear. There's a few other visualisations in the piece and a lot to learn, including that 'researchers estimate that 94 million lives have been saved from measles vaccines'. *** 2. A triangle offence We expressed our love of election triangles during the campaign. This post-election analysis of what's happening to the major party vote in Australia only drives it home. The best thing about the triangle in this instance is how it allows for the comparison of singular seats at discrete points in time, a seat across time, and a bunch of different seats, all within the same framework. *** 3. Stacks on stacks We've often used this newsletter to champion the humble bar chart, and this is a great example. This story from the Age unpacks how the government is doing compared to its housing target. There's a lot to draw out but the story is pretty well summed up with this one visual. We also covered this issue during the election campaign, also with a bar chart. *** 4. Porque no los dos This bar chart looking at Coalition election results by the election analyst Ben Raue shows how versatile the format is. While the Age's bar chart is a snapshot, this is a comparison between the two parties, across time. It's quite striking how the Nationals almost always get 15 or 16 seats election after election. The Economist on how much worse America's measles outbreak could get ($) Reuters on the rapid spread of measles Our World in Data on the effectiveness of measles vaccines The New York Times measles outbreak map and tracker ($) The New York Times on how measles attacks an unvaccinated child ($) We talked about the challenge of comparisons across a bunch of groups before. This small multiples pie chart from the American datavis legend Robert Simmon shows another way to tackle it. The data is looking at faecal contamination at beaches in and around Sydney, and at least in aggregate probably is a much better comparison than if they were something like bar charts. The discourse around pie charts can be … heated. This isn't to make a statement about the acceptability of pie charts – although this is a great read. If you would like to receive The Crunch to your email inbox every fortnight, sign up here.
West Australian
30-04-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Cannabis or coal: shifting Senate a recipe for surprise
Weed smokers, anti-wokers and coal cokers could all have a seat at one of the nation's top tables as the Senate serves up a menu of unpredictable combinations. As pundits posit over who will form government in the lower house, battle lines in the upper house could ultimately determine which policies become a reality. More than half of the Senate is up for re-election on Saturday: six of the 12 senators in each state and two in each the ACT and Northern Territory. The staggered terms bake in at least 12 senators for Labor, 14 for the coalition, five for the Greens and five others, who will serve with the 40 who triumph after the weekend vote. The magic number to control the Senate is 39. Senate races are split into two main lanes of three progressive and three conservative seats, election analyst Ben Raue said. Mr Raue, who runs the Tallyroom election analysis website, predicts the Greens will keep their single Senate seat up for re-election in each state. Right-wing minor parties such as One Nation and mining magnate Clive Palmer's Trumpet of Patriots have the greatest shot in states where the coalition vote is too low for a third seat but the progressive vote isn't high enough for four. "The only other plausible party that can win a seat is Legalise Cannabis, they have a decent brand name and primary vote," Mr Raue told AAP. Victoria is the state to watch for the right-wing vote because it is where Mr Palmer's former United Australia Party won its only seat in 2022. The field in Queensland was already crowded, with either One Nation's Malcolm Roberts or LNP defector Gerard Rennick and his People First party most likely to claim the third conservative seat, the analyst said. Senator Rennick conceded it would be hard for him to retain his seat but said there needed to be a minor-party alternative to the coalition, which lacked conviction to uphold conservative values. "Our ground game is as good as their ground game but One Nation has a better-known brand for all those booths you can't get to," he told AAP. The Liberals are in danger of losing their third seat in South Australia or Western Australia to a minor party such as One Nation. Firebrand senator Jacqui Lambie is likely to retain her Tasmanian seat, although that wasn't guaranteed, Mr Raue said. South Australian Jacqui Lambie Network candidate Rex Patrick said he had a good chance at returning to the Senate, but the minor party didn't have the capacity to poll so the results wouldn't be known until election day. "I don't think anyone could give an accurate prediction of the outcome," he said. There was a chance Labor could take a third seat in Victoria or WA or a second in Queensland if there was a big enough bump in its vote, Mr Raue said. But one party insider conceded that was unlikely and the last Senate seat would be a scrap between the coalition and a minor party.
Perth Now
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Cannabis or coal: shifting Senate a recipe for surprise
Weed smokers, anti-wokers and coal cokers could all have a seat at one of the nation's top tables as the Senate serves up a menu of unpredictable combinations. As pundits posit over who will form government in the lower house, battle lines in the upper house could ultimately determine which policies become a reality. More than half of the Senate is up for re-election on Saturday: six of the 12 senators in each state and two in each the ACT and Northern Territory. The staggered terms bake in at least 12 senators for Labor, 14 for the coalition, five for the Greens and five others, who will serve with the 40 who triumph after the weekend vote. The magic number to control the Senate is 39. Senate races are split into two main lanes of three progressive and three conservative seats, election analyst Ben Raue said. Mr Raue, who runs the Tallyroom election analysis website, predicts the Greens will keep their single Senate seat up for re-election in each state. Right-wing minor parties such as One Nation and mining magnate Clive Palmer's Trumpet of Patriots have the greatest shot in states where the coalition vote is too low for a third seat but the progressive vote isn't high enough for four. "The only other plausible party that can win a seat is Legalise Cannabis, they have a decent brand name and primary vote," Mr Raue told AAP. Victoria is the state to watch for the right-wing vote because it is where Mr Palmer's former United Australia Party won its only seat in 2022. The field in Queensland was already crowded, with either One Nation's Malcolm Roberts or LNP defector Gerard Rennick and his People First party most likely to claim the third conservative seat, the analyst said. Senator Rennick conceded it would be hard for him to retain his seat but said there needed to be a minor-party alternative to the coalition, which lacked conviction to uphold conservative values. "Our ground game is as good as their ground game but One Nation has a better-known brand for all those booths you can't get to," he told AAP. The Liberals are in danger of losing their third seat in South Australia or Western Australia to a minor party such as One Nation. Firebrand senator Jacqui Lambie is likely to retain her Tasmanian seat, although that wasn't guaranteed, Mr Raue said. South Australian Jacqui Lambie Network candidate Rex Patrick said he had a good chance at returning to the Senate, but the minor party didn't have the capacity to poll so the results wouldn't be known until election day. "I don't think anyone could give an accurate prediction of the outcome," he said. There was a chance Labor could take a third seat in Victoria or WA or a second in Queensland if there was a big enough bump in its vote, Mr Raue said. But one party insider conceded that was unlikely and the last Senate seat would be a scrap between the coalition and a minor party.
